


Like (grand)father, like (grand)daughter

by forabeatofadrum (maanorchidee)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Reaction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 06:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maanorchidee/pseuds/forabeatofadrum
Summary: Joe asks Nora why she needs to stay at his house.





	Like (grand)father, like (grand)daughter

The TV is still on. By now, Joe knows it’s Nora. Nora showed up on his doorstep two days earlier and his granddaughter (granddaughter!) is mesmerised by the TV. It’s not that they don’t have TV in the future, but according to Nora, it is incredibly different. 

He loves Nora’s obsession with TV. He doesn’t love her staying up past midnight to watch TV. 

He enters the living room and he sits down on the couch next to Nora. “It’s late.”

“I know, but in this time, you have to wait for a certain hour to watch a certain show in television, pawpaw, it’s mindblowing,” Nora says, eyes still on the screen, “In my time, you can watch whatever you want whenever you want.”

“Ah, so as expected, the Netflix formula is the future,” Joe says.

“Netflix? What’s a Netflix?”

Joe shakes his head. Instead he reaches for the remote and he turns off the TV. 

“Hey!”

“Nora, it’s past midnight.” 

“I’m not tired,” Nora pouts but then she yawns. Joe shoots her a look.

“Right.”

“All right, you got me. I should sleep,” Nora says and she yawns again, as if she’s only now realising she is tired. 

Joe watches his granddaughter. He now realises this is the only time he can actually ask her what’s happened. Ever since Nora showed up on the doorstep, Cecile has been fussing about her. Joe can’t blame her, since he also cannot believe that he gets to spend time with his granddaughter even before she was born.

“Nora, can I ask you why you’re fighting with your parents?”

Nora freezes. It’s as if she expected Joe to play along and avoid the big question.

But to Joe’s surprise, Nora sits back and she sighs. “Six months ago, I found out that mom put a power dampening chip in me when I was a kid. I confronted mom about it and then mom told me that she agrees with her future self. To make matters worse, dad agrees with future mom’s decision as well.”

“That’s a lot-”

“All my life, I’ve felt different, pawpaw. I knew that there was something with me and my own mother took away my choice to use these powers. That’s the reason why I am not as great as dad. I’ve only learned how to use my abilities half a year ago because my own mother decided how I should live my life. How could she do that to me?”

A couple of tears roll down Nora’s face and Joe goes to the kitchen to find some tissues. When he gets back, he lets her dry her tears and he rubs his back.

“Pawpaw, be honest with me. Do you agree with mom?” Nora asks.

The thing is… Joe doesn’t know. He really does not know, and when he tells her that, Nora snorts.

“It’s a simple question, pawpaw. Yes or no.”

“But it’s not that simple, baby,” Joe says and he suddenly remembers how he put Iris in a similar position. Nora blows her nose. “Nora, did you mother ever tell you about your grandma?”

“Grandma Nora? Well, yeah. I was named after her,” Nora says.

But Joe shakes his head. “No, baby, not your father’s mother, but your mother’s mother. I assume you know that Cecile is my second wife.”

“Grandma… Frances?” Nora asks, confused.

“Francine. Nora, your mother’s mother was called Francine. Judging by the fact that you don’t even know her name, I’m assuming that your mom has not told you a lot about your grandmother.”

“She died,” Nora says.

“Yes, but did you know how she died?”

Nora shakes her head.

Joe sighs and he pulls Nora closer. “Francine died when Iris was 6 years old. She was a good mother who died tragically. Or at least, that’s what I made Iris believe.”

Nora frowns.

“In reality, Francine was a drug addict who left us when Iris was 6. I told Iris that her own mother had died, because I wanted to protect Iris and her feelings. You can imagine the shock she must’ve felt when Francine returned to Central City almost two decades later and not only that, oh no, she had a son, your uncle Wally.”

“Pawpaw, how could you!” Nora yells out, “That is horrible.”

Joe smiles sadly. “As you can imagine, your mother did not like it. She was angry at Francine for leaving her, but she was more angry at me for lying at her. Now, according to your father, your mother did initially forgive me, but then your father erased that timeline and created the current timeline and let me tell you, baby, your mother did not forgive me.

Which was a shock to your father, since up to that point, he only knew the timeline he erased. Your father eventually helped us reunite, because he’s originally from a timeline where we never fought. But that timeline is gone, Nora. All I know and remember is your mother absolutely hating me. I remember her yelling at me. I remember her crying bloody murder. She swore she’d never forgive me. But she did. Yes, your father gave her a jump start, but it was all her in the end.”

Nora scoffs. “Why are you telling me this, pawpaw? I am not my mother. I know what I’m thinking.”

“But do you know what your mother is thinking?”

Nora rolls her eyes. “Yes, I do now.”

Joe shakes his head. 

“Nora, I did what I had to do in order to protect my little girl. Do I regret it? Yes, of course I do. Do I wish I could go back in time and change it? Of course, even though I know the implications of time travel. But when Francine left and I was faced with the decision to tell Iris that her mother had abandoned her, I panicked. I cared more about my daughter’s feelings than my own rational thoughts and the next thing I knew, I was telling my daughter that her mother had died. What I did, I did it because of love. Is that an excuse? No, I am aware of what I’ve done and how much pain I’ve caused, and your mother’s anger and hatred towards me is still justified, but try to look at it from your mother’s perspective. Your mother from the future, not your mother now.”

“Still makes me angry, though.”

“Of course. Like I said, your mother’s anger was justified and so is yours. This is a big thing to uncover. But look at it from your mother’s perspective. Your father disappeared and he never came back and suddenly, her daughter is manifesting powers, namely the same powers that took her husband away from her. A part of me wishes I could tell you that I agree with you, but in a way, I’ve been in your mother’s shoes before. I think that the moment your mother found out you had powers, all rational thought left her mind and she decided to do whatever she could to protect you from the same powers that took away your father.”

“So you think my mom might regret this? She just flat out told me that she agrees with her future actions. And so did dad!”

Joe sighs. “Nora, like I said, I regret my actions, but over the past twenty years there have been several times where I thought to myself: ‘This is horrible, but I’ve done the right thing’.”

“Why?” Nora asks angrily and she pushes him away, “Why would you intentionally hurt mom? Why would you intentionally let mom hurt me?”

Joe shakes his head. “I don’t know, baby. Like I said, it’s not that simple. You might think this is a simple ‘yes or no’ question, but it’s really not. It happened and I couldn’t change it. And honestly, it has saved Iris from a lot of pain, so I guessed it was for the best. Now, I think your mother, this mother, not the one from your time, realised this as well. Again, is this an excuse? No. Is your anger justified? Yes. But I just want you to see that this isn’t simple. Besides, Nora, you have not been kind to your mother ever since you got here.”

“Well, yeah, because I’m angry at her!”

“You’re angry at your mother from your time. This ‘version’ of your mother had no idea why you were treating her this way. You’ve been incredibly rude towards a woman who did not deserve to be treated that way. You held your mother accountable for actions she has yet to do, so she wasn’t aware of them.”

“Till now.”

“Till now,” Joe affirms, “And now you know that your mother agrees with her future self, so now I can imagine you’re mad at her for it, but before that, you really had no reason to act that way.”

“So, what are you saying, pawpaw?” Nora asks. She still looks a bit angry, but Joe can see that she’s listening to what he has to say and most importantly, that she’s thinking about what he has to say.

“I am saying that this family is incredibly messed up in so many ways. I mean, look at me! I am having a conversation with my future granddaughter, who’s an adult. You aren’t born yet. you aren’t even conceived yet.”

“Please, never say conceived again.”

“But we all love each other, Nora. We all love each other so dearly. I love you, and your parents, and your uncle Wally and auntie Jenna, and Cecile. And sometimes, we hurt the people we love. Still doesn’t always excuse it, but it happens because we love each other.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Nora asks.

“You’re not supposed to do anything, baby. It’s your life. You’re an adult, so it’s your choice if you want to do something with this or not. But may I suggest you talk to your parents and try to understand where they’re coming from. I have the feeling you haven’t even talked to your mother from your time. You got angry and left, that’s it. You do everything in excess, hence the name XS, but maybe take a step back for now.”

* * *

“Nora?” Iris looks surprised. Nora can’t blame her, since the last time they saw each other, Nora was really angry at her.

“Hi mom, can I come in?”

“Always,” Iris steps aside so that Nora can enter the loft, “Your dad is cooking, since I can’t even fry an egg. What brings you here?”

“I talked to pawpaw Joe yesterday,” Nora says, “I think it’s time for us to really talk.”


End file.
